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The 13 Major Cities Where Foreclosures Soared Last Year

First Posted: 02/ 1/2011 1:32 pm   Updated: 05/25/2011 7:30 pm

The foreclosure crisis isn't exclusive to real estate-addled cities like Las Vegas and Phoenix

In fact, as the crisis deepened, foreclosures mounted in unexpected cities last year. Of the 13 major cities that saw the biggest increases in foreclosures in 2010, according to data from RealtyTrac, none were in the notorious housing bust states of Florida, Arizona or Nevada.

Foreclosure activity increased in 149 of the country's 206 largest metropolitan areas last year, RealtyTrac found. Even cities that were initially shielded from the the worst of the foreclosure crisis have now seen big jumps in foreclosure activity, AP notes. Job loss has become the leading cause of the increase.

Falling home prices erode homeowners' wealth, making them more vulnerable to default and foreclosure. As foreclosures tend to bring property values down even further, the cycle can perpetuate itself. Rising unemployment makes the situation worse still.

Check out the areas that saw the biggest increases in foreclosures last year, per RealtyTrac's data:

#13 Little Rock, Arkansas
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In the RealtyTrac's Metro Foreclosure Rates report, Little Rock had a year-over-year foreclosure activity increase of 25.88 percent. The area had 5,977 property foreclosure filings in 2010.
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The foreclosure crisis isn't exclusive to real estate-addled cities like Las Vegas and Phoenix In fact, as the crisis deepened, foreclosures mounted in unexpected cities last year. Of the 13 major ...
The foreclosure crisis isn't exclusive to real estate-addled cities like Las Vegas and Phoenix In fact, as the crisis deepened, foreclosures mounted in unexpected cities last year. Of the 13 major ...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Siebenstein
> there is no endless growth
02:39 PM on 03/03/2011
They forgot to mention Los Angeles !
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Edy Williams
07:09 PM on 02/15/2011
Hey it is not the "house" the issue here, its 1. gouging Electricity Companies, 2. gouging Gas co. 3. Gouging Cable T.V companies,4.Gouging all utilities,.4.Gouging Supermarkets,etc! Discover :"Food for Less! :"They supply Ralphs! SAW it with my hazel green eyes! Great Wild caught Salmon,arrowhead bottle watwer 45 Cents,Kitty food,Fancy feast" Half price, Clean,polite,great fresh fruit!Mangos,By the bag,Oranges,fresh,Lean Cuisine dinners 1$.. Their still are valuable places, you have to REFRESH! etc,etc,.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Godfearing
Get Ready For NRA Takeover!
01:34 PM on 02/10/2011
Don't worry folks, the Christian Republican Tea Party Birther member will pray or prey us into
prosperity! The term God help us is their only answer!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Edy Williams
02:24 PM on 02/21/2011
1. Edison Electric company, specific i desert areas are "GOUGING" poor home Victums. They come up with $600 every 30 Days?For ONE person here???About $6,000 a year,they Pull a "sduprise,shut all her lights major switches off,which makes phone linegodead,There you are, they hAVE YOUR "DEPOSITS",THOUSnds of dollars & your left driving ,looking for an emergency Hotel to stay at. Extended syay"Oh,evrry single room is taken"(oh really?,during the week? she is all of 19, On to the Marriott," for you", a special!, $190 for a single!The edison?!::Well send the man out to turn your Breakers out there back on!) Does he show up.NOOO.
Yipes,they wont even show you a switch on your home they messed with.Quick call Amy your Spa girl,She found a major switch on breaker. That took 2 days,.These culprits,cause Forecloses! causing "FORECLOSURES".The Gas people,$400 a month?/This is true disgust,stealing,real fraud.W
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GoldwaterKid
Vote Person, Not Party
12:58 PM on 03/05/2011
Sure they will Pray for our Country, as those Democrats that Pray as well.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
jena132
01:10 PM on 02/02/2011
Does anyone have the distribution of foreclosures by home price? I'm curious if its low, average, or high end homes with the greatest foreclosure rate.
12:53 AM on 02/03/2011
With the exception of Honolulu, all the markets mentioned are "New money" communities, meaning the majority of the properties would of been purchased by the middle class, or formally middle class people.

As for the low, average, high end distinction, that would vary by community, but the general rule nationally is mid- lower side of high end homes.
01:00 PM on 02/02/2011
The percentages mean nothing. It's the numbers that you need to look at. The numbers don't show any problems.

For example, if there was 1 foreclosure in 2009 and 2 in 2010, then there is a 100% increase.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
USNDC
Smartest President ever ? ... not even close.
07:43 PM on 02/02/2011
The numbers are scary.

2010 was a record year with just over 1,000,000 foreclosures.

2011 has started with 7,000,000 homes in some stage of foreclosure ... with another 5,000,000 people that are late on their mortgage payments headed towards the foreclosure queue.

This is a national crisis that is being ignored.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Eugene Tyrrell
12:55 PM on 02/02/2011
The tragic irony is that the states that are the hardest hit by the shenanigans of the big banks are the same states where the voting habits seem to support the policies that enable these banks to destroy the fabric of this once great country.
This comment has been removed due to violations of our [Guidelines]
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Ellamental
Strongly anti-fracking
12:15 PM on 02/02/2011
Sorry if someone else pointed this out, but the photo shown for Savannah Ga is actually CHARLESTON SC....
11:57 AM on 02/02/2011
When I was there last weekend, Charlotte, Gastonia and Concord were all in NC
11:26 AM on 02/02/2011
so, most of them are southern places...hmmm
11:13 AM on 02/02/2011
Surprise?! Someone's been living under a rock for the last two years.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
JTWallace
10:38 AM on 02/02/2011
The ratio of jobs as opposed to lay-offs is not good. For every job available, at least 3 are lost due to layoffs. We've got a long way to go before we can achieve stability in the job market. Plus, where are our jobs. In China, Mexico, South America, India, and who knows where else. But, they aren't here.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Godfearing
Get Ready For NRA Takeover!
01:36 PM on 02/10/2011
F&F ~ write/right on!
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GoldwaterKid
Vote Person, Not Party
01:01 PM on 03/05/2011
Exactly. And that was what third party candidate for President Ross Perot was trying to tell both Democrats and Republicans. NAFTA isn't good for America.

They both laughed at him, like he was a fool. That is what both parties do still now.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
FlyDiesel
10:29 AM on 02/02/2011
There are all sorts of ways to look at things. If you don't have that many to start with, the rate of increase is more volatile.

Here are the 20 cities with the worst foreclosure rates. No surprise; most are in California and Florida, but the worst is Los Vegas:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-20-cities-with-the-highest-foreclosure-rates-2010-01-28?pagenumber=2
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BlackJAC
It's better to be a black king than a white knight
10:34 AM on 02/02/2011
Notice how those are all vacation spots, suggesting that people were buying vacation homes there when things were looking good and the mortgage companies were hiring pizza delivery guys as mortgage officers?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
FlyDiesel
10:50 AM on 02/02/2011
I'm inclined to agree, at least with some. People are more likely to let investment homes go, and hunker down in their primary residence.
12:57 AM on 02/03/2011
How many people do you know vacation in Little Rock ,AK, Houston/Tulsa, TX or Salt Lake City UT???? That's hardcore fly over country.
10:15 AM on 02/02/2011
I see a lot of red states
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Godfearing
Get Ready For NRA Takeover!
01:39 PM on 02/10/2011
They sent all their money their TV minister for that 100 for 1 deal! F&F
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Patriot86
Compassion is the basis of all morality.
10:00 AM on 02/02/2011
It is not surprising to me...the fact is while the drop in housing precipatated an inevitable banking crisis...it was always about the job losses....we have shipped too many jobs overseas and do not have enough for our own people...if we were calculating unemployment as we did in the 30's, we would be at about 20 % now. Many in red states sat smugly by and sneered at Michigan, Indiana and Ohio...as they provided foreign companies including but not limited to car manufacturers government money... to locate in the south and with their home government subsidies attempted to drive American manufacturing out of business...and they succeded in many ways...garments are gone, steel is coming back thanks to autos but is much reduced, electronics gone...and furniture gone now in Carolina...there are others as well. Red staters thought they could basically cheer on the destruction of the Mid West.. we have all seen the anti Mid West posts here...but America is one nation and what happens in Michigan impacts Arkansas and Geoirgia...everywhere really in the end. The smug red state belief that unions were the bad guys was shattered when the non-union Southern furniture industry was packed up and shipped overseas. The GOP with support from their foolish supporters have allowed China to take the lead in the profitable green techonology....losing billions perhaps trillions and many jobs...We are one nation united we stand but divided we fail.